Well & pump issues ... Argh ...

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rolandm

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Howdy all ... very much a newbie at this ... here's the setup from the best I can tell. 70' deep silo well, galvanized tank, submersible pump and an idiot for a former uncle.

Last year, the well pipe inside the well burst (it was really old and corroded) causing the old pump to nearly burn out. Uncle and Aunt made the trip up from Kentucky (it's there place) replaced the pump and the pipe, and in the process, pulled the underground line feeding the house that goes into the well from the side OUT of the ground, and into the side of the rather hillbilly looking mess of a pumphouse he ram-shackled together. Needless to say, this line is very much subject to freezing. It is insulated and heat-taped all the way to where it enters the ground. Is there any way to further insulate it through the frost layer until I can get this place bought this spring and rip out the whole mess and do it right?

And question two. I replaced the pressure switch about a year ago when it burned out, and just prior to that, I noticed this "surging" in water pressure before it utterly died. Well, that surging returned, and when I turned on the water the other day (shower, sink, outside spigot for the horse trough, etc. all of them experienced it), I went out to the well house (the aforementioned hillbilly loveshack), and the pressure switch was kicking on and off, on and off with . Is this the dreaded "galvanized tank waterlogging" I have read about causing this, or is this something else entirely?
 

Bob NH

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rolandm said:
Howdy all ... very much a newbie at this ... here's the setup from the best I can tell. 70' deep silo well, galvanized tank, submersible pump and . . . former uncle.

Last year, the well pipe inside the well burst (it was really old and corroded) causing the old pump to nearly burn out. Uncle and Aunt made the trip up from Kentucky (it's their place) replaced the pump and the pipe, and in the process, pulled the underground line feeding the house that goes into the well from the side OUT of the ground, and into the side of the pumphouse. Needless to say, this line is very much subject to freezing. It is insulated and heat-taped all the way to where it enters the ground. Is there any way to further insulate it through the frost layer until I can get this place bought this spring and rip out the whole mess and do it right?

And question two. I replaced the pressure switch about a year ago when it burned out, and just prior to that, I noticed this "surging" in water pressure before it utterly died. Well, that surging returned, and when I turned on the water the other day (shower, sink, outside spigot for the horse trough, etc. all of them experienced it), I went out to the well house (the aforementioned hillbilly loveshack), and the pressure switch was kicking on and off, on and off with . Is this the dreaded "galvanized tank waterlogging" I have read about causing this, or is this something else entirely?

It is probably the dreaded "galvanized tank waterlogging" but it is easy to fix. You need to drain the galvanized tank and pressure it with air to 2 psi less than the START pressure of the pressure switch. After that it will work like a bladder tank until the air becomes dissolved in the water.

You should be able to survive Kentucky frost by covering the pipe with a generous stack of straw. Now if the pump is up in Michigan where I used to live, and they used the Kentucky version of insulation, then you will have a problem.

PS: How does one become a "former uncle"?
 

rolandm

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Hi Bob ... thanks

I'll give this a shot tonight and see if it works. It's Illinois frost, unfortunately, though.

The way you become a former uncle is to come up, totally mess up your wife's favorite (only) niece (my wife Cari) and nephew's life by spending more money doing it yourself than paying someone to do it right the first time.

Indicative of how this guy did things, so the well problem was the straw that broke the came's back, I guess.

Just pointing out too ... as I just remembered ... the switch only hammers like that if there is a faucet on ... still likely to be a water-logged tank?
 

rolandm

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Yay!

Alright, even for a newby, this process was very simple, and took no more than a half hour total (including drain time for the tank).

Thanks for your site, for this forum, and for the really wonderful resource it is!
 
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